In related art power supplies for brazing, cladding, building up, filling, hard-facing overlaying, joining and welding applications, for example gas shielded tungsten arc welding (GTAW) systems, some power supplies allow the operator to select between different welding waveforms. Typically, the operator is given a choice between an advanced (“crisp”) square wave, a “soft” square wave, a sine wave, and a triangle wave. Each of these waveforms has certain advantages and the operator chooses the best waveform for the specific application. For example, the advanced square wave provides fast transitions for a responsive, dynamic, and focused arc and better directional control. The soft square wave provides a smoother, softer arc with a more fluid weld puddle than the advanced square wave. The sine wave provides the soft-arc feel of a conventional power source. The triangular wave combines the effect of peak amperage while reducing overall heat input. This leads to quick puddle formation and, because of the lower heat input, reduced weld distortion, especially on thin metal.
However, each waveform also has it disadvantages. For example, because noise is proportional to how fast the current changes, the advanced square wave has the most noise, with the soft square wave, sine wave, and the triangle wave following in descending order of noise. Similarly, the square wave has the most heat input to the workpiece with the triangle wave the least. However, the other waveforms do not provide the responsiveness and control of the square wave. Accordingly, the operator must balance responsiveness and control of the arc with noise. With related arc welding machines, the selection is limited to the four waveforms discussed above. There is no way for the operator to choose a waveform that is between, for example, a sine wave and a triangle wave in order to get the optimum waveform for a particular application.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional, traditional, and proposed approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such approaches with embodiments of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.